Unfortunately, Tiny, many if perhaps not all of those factoids I have seen substantiated many times; primarily in reports and presentations by Israeli Jews including ex military people condemning - as a great many Israelis Jews do - precisely these behaviors.
Rizvi's piece does raise many cogent points. I have two major issues with it. His effort to equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism or anti-Hamas with anti-Islam is misplaced. Anyone can point to liturgical phrases which show that the most radical agendas on both sides come from scripture. But that proves nothing. One can be very much against those sentiments from the Old Testament and Quran and still not be against Muslims or Jews. In fact, a great many Muslims and Jews, proud ones, don't accept nationalist and supremacist dogma from their holy texts.
My other major issue is that he sidesteps one reason why there is so much furor over Israeli atrocities relative to atrocities by Muslims against other Muslims. Sure, some of it is because many people, for varied and corrupt reasons, are selectively hostile to bad things when they are done by Jewish people. But there is another reason: Israel is an American ally. This takes two forms. Those who hate America enjoy condemning its allies. And those of us who are Americans and love this country are particularly troubled by horrible things happening in our name; and the same must be said for the many Israelis including many Israeli Jews who are outspoken against their own government and nation at its most objectionable!
Updated On: 7/31/14 at 03:49 PM